Iraq claims role in US operation that killed ISIS leader in Syria

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi intelligence provided the US with “accurate” information in the overnight operation against ISIS leader in Syria, leading to his location and death, military spokesperson for Iraqi prime minister claimed late Thursday. 

The US operation killed the Islamic State (ISIS) leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi in Idlib, northwest Syria. The US has not acknowledged the role of any force or government in the operation but has said the country will continue working with the Kurdish forces in Syria as well as Iraqi army and Peshmerga in the fight against ISIS. 

“The operation … was carried out after the Iraqi National Intelligence Service provided the global coalition with accurate information which led to his location and killing,” Yehia Rasool, military spokesperson for Iraqi PM Mustafa al-Kadhimi, who is also the commander-in-chief of armed forces, said in a tweet. 

The killing of ISIS leader has been welcomed by the Kurdistan Region officials, with PM Masrour Barzani urging the global coalition against ISIS to continue training and equipping the Peshmerga and Iraqi army.  

The killing of the high-ranking ISIS leader took place on a property in Atmeh, north of Idlib and just east of the border with Turkey.  

The death of Qurayshi comes three years after US special forces killed former ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a similar-style attack in 2019 in Idlib. 

The global coalition against ISIS was formally established in October 2014, after ISIS took control of vast swathes of territories in Iraq and Syria.

The combat mission of the Coalition ended in Iraq at the end of the last year but it continues in Syria.